Our theater of the absurdIn the theater of the absurd that is otherwise known as the Arkansas Legislature, a Band-Aid suffices when a tourniquet is needed, apples become oranges and no cause is ever completely lost. Facing the state Supreme Court's Jan. 1 deadline to repair an unconstitutional school funding formula, the legislators threw a $5 million bone to the state's schools, thinking it would satisfy the court. This stopgap funding will be divided among schools b...

If we are what we eat . . .Americans have long been warned to watch what they eat. Lately, there's been a need to start watching what our food eats before it arrives on our table. The first American case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, more commonly known as mad cow disease, was identified last month in a dairy cow that may have come from Canada, which has already had a case of BSE. In addition, the cow was old enough to have eaten a type of feed supplement banned ...

Our only role is to report newsHow do a newspaper and the journalists who work there serve their community? One illustration might be drawn from photography. Like a camera, a news story captures an instant of time and records it for others to see. The focus may be on one part of the news, but the purpose is to make an accurate picture. Like most photographers, a reporter wants to stay out of the picture, preferring instead to be the one snapping the shutter. We have recentl...

First lessons in journalismBy Phil Lamb As first impressions go, the one that was typically presented by Gerald Edgar was fairly memorable. There would be a hat, probably in a plaid, a bow tie and sports coat, and that ever-present camera around his neck. In the four years I was a journalism student at Arkansas Tech University, I somehow managed to miss taking any classes under Mr. Edgar. (If memory serves, he taught journalism law and journalism history at the time, al...

First lessons in journalismBy Phillip W. Lamb managing editor As first impressions go, the one that was typically presented by Gerald Edgar was fairly memorable. There would be a hat, probably in a plaid, a bow tie and sports coat, and that ever-present camera around his neck. In the four years I was a journalism student at Arkansas Tech University, I somehow managed to miss taking any classes under Mr. Edgar. (If memory serves, he taught journalism law and journalism h...

Consolidation foes haven't been moved by concessionsArkansas Perspective by James Jefferson LITTLE ROCK (AP) - For hard-line consolidation opponents in the Legislature, compromise has not been an option. Not when Gov. Mike Huckabee first announced his plan last January to consolidate high schools in districts with fewer than 1,500 students and strip away all but advisory authority from local school boards. Not when Huckabee relented midway through the regular session and agreed to honor local c...

Whistling in the darkSafety and security are slippery things. They are about to slip out of the grasp of legislators and other Arkansans who think there will be no ill consequences for missing the state Supreme Court's deadline to fix an unconstitutional school system. Rep. Jodie Mahony, the only surviving veteran lawmaker in the Legislature, doesn't see much risk of the court acting quickly. "As long as they see that we are working and making progress, I think th...

French faith under fireThe rise of secularism in Europe has now turned the corner from absurdity to a return of oppression. Our European brothers and sisters, who enjoy a civilization that was shaped in large part by the development of Western-style Christianity, have for some time been debating whether to even credit any issues of faith when writing a constitution for a united Europe. While that seems silly and ignores the reality of history, the debate pales next ...

The story for all agesFrom the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2 1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2 This was the first enrollment, when Quirin'i-us was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be enrolled...

President Bush finds new successLet's give credit where credit is due. If Libya follows through with its promise to get rid of unconventional weapons, a significant share of the credit should go to President Bush. Bush's hard line on Iraq apparently got the attention of Moammar Gadhafi, who initiated contact with Washington and London when the invasion was beginning. Now that Saddam Hussein has been dug out of his hole in the ground, Gadhafi must be relieved that he may be a...

Muckrakers start a feudBy Ron Butts This is truly the season of joy. It appears as if two of the media's most notorious muckrakers have now turned on each other. A huge feud between television talk show host Bill O'Reilly and Internet muckraker Matt Drudge has apparently erupted onto the national stage. What joy this brings to my heart. Two of the biggest trash collectors in the media who once worked arm-in-arm in their attempts to bring down the Clinton presidency ...

If they only had nerveWhen the state Senate passed a measure that would require consolidation of school districts with fewer than 500 students, House Speaker Herschel Cleveland, D-Paris, put the blame on the state's editorial writers and columnists. We inky wretches join in appreciating the sentiment, even if meant as criticism, but few of us really think we have that kind of influence. But we take exception to Cleveland's further criticism that we editorial writer...

Better to err with cautionUnlike some writers, we're not very good with gambling analogies. The old "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em" line we know from the song many years ago. "Never draw to an inside straight" is advice we had to look up to know exactly what it meant. So if you guessed we're not very comfortable with gambling as a game, you would be right. We're even less comfortable with gambling when it comes to the city's budget, and that's what the R...

Legal action can backfireBy John Brummett Arkansas News Bureau Maybe the moral of this epic school reform story is to be careful what you sue for. Lake View's school district deep in the Delta of East Arkansas, tiny, poor, underperforming and all-black, brought the litigation that resulted in the state's entire public school system getting declared unconstitutionally inequitable. The Bentonville and Rogers districts, across the state and in another universe in the mou...

George Fisher's art defined state of ArkansasThe state of Arkansas lost a great journalist this week. By his own admission, he wasn't much of a writer, but man, could he draw. George Fisher became an icon of The Arkansas Gazette with a sharp pen and an even sharper wit. He skewered everyone from Arkansas politicians to the Army Corps of Engineers ("Keep Busy"). Yet, even in so doing, he always managed to keep the respect of those whose foibles and failings he exposed. In an oral history ...

Iraq gains reason for renewed hopeBy Phil Lamb editor@couriernews.com The people of Iraq may not celebrate Christian holidays, but they still got their best Christmas present ever over the weekend. Nearly nine months after a defiant Saddam Hussein rejected a U.S. offer to go into exile and avoid hostilities, the haggard but still defiant deposed leader was captured by U.S. forces outside his home town of Tikrit. Iraqis who have lived under Saddam's tyranny for a generation hav...

Real motion still elusiveWhat was Senate President Pro Tempore Jim Hill of Nashville looking at last week when he "saw some movement" on school reform? It couldn't have been the Arkansas Legislature, unless he's describing something like those cartoon characters who are shown running frantically while staying in the same place. After a week of work, state lawmakers have done little but nibble around the edges of their goal - satisfying the Supreme Court's ruling that ...

Words hurt U.S. effortsThe Dale Carnegie courses and his book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People," may have become a cliche, but the Bush administration needs to schedule a class. Surely there is a seminar titled something like: "Don't expect a donation for your favorite cause from someone you just kicked in the pants." Attending such a seminar might have prevented the latest faux pas with our allies. Paul Wolfowitz, the Pentagon's No. 1 loose cannon, wrote u...

A solution can be foundPerhaps it's a character flaw. Some people actually believe that every intractable problem has a reasonable solution on which reasonable people can agree. And so it is with the latest special session for the state Legislature, which has finally begun considering how to handle the state Supreme Court's mandate to fix an unconstitutional system of public education. Today we offer two ideas, one new and one old. Of all the plans listed in the Ass...

Another voice: Teachers promote qualityBy Kenneth R. Walker Membership in Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) International is composed primarily of college, secondary and elementary educational administrators and teachers. It was founded in 1910. Its purpose which has been maintained for nearly a century "is to promote quality education, with particular emphasis on publicly supported education, as essential to the development and maintenance of a democratic way of life." Headquartered at Bloomi...